That was until about nine days ago when word trickled out that "Hendo" injured his knee and would be pulling out of the fight. This triggered a chain of events that have changed the way mixed martial arts (MMA) fans feel about the biggest fight promotion in the world.

Jones, already a polarizing figure, turned down a short notice replacement bout against Chael Sonnen, presumably after being told by an angry UFC President Dana White that if he did so, the entire event would be cancelled just over one week before it was scheduled to occur.

Still, Jones said no and MMA fans had their Labor Day weekend freed up from any major show.

The fallout has been nasty. White and the UFC embarked on what was, essentially, a smear campaign, burying "Bones" at every turn. They issued press releases with quotes like, "UFC 151 will always be the event remembered as the one Jon Jones and Greg Jackson MURDERED."

I call bullshit, he never was going to do it imo. Even if it's true that he was going to do it until the Twitter talk, that's just childish. Jones has a lot of growing up to do.

Budgellism

9/1/12 7:15:00PM

Honestly, I don't believe he would actually pay them their fees. I believe he said he would.

LuckyCharms

9/1/12 7:20:07PM

Totally BS.

That is like when I was a Kid and my older sister said "To bad I was going to let you have the TV but since you were mean to me, you're not getting it now" .

BS to Maximum !!!!

backalley101

9/1/12 7:22:18PM

He is really becoming the most hated man MMA

Twenty20Dollars

9/1/12 7:38:20PM

This whole thing just won't die.

Cooler

9/1/12 7:50:45PM

Shawn I love how you're always on top of the Jon Jones doing d-bag things.

I now make sure that I only read Jones threads from you

papercut

9/1/12 7:53:10PM

george112

9/1/12 8:16:10PM

Suuuuuure you were.

Come on Jones. Just keep quiet.

infestructure

9/1/12 8:56:49PM

Posted by LuckyCharms

Totally BS.

That is like when I was a Kid and my older sister said "To bad I was going to let you have the TV but since you were mean to me, you're not getting it now" .

BS to Maximum !!!!

Exactly this. Jones immaturity level is over 9000. No PR team in the world could save him from himself.

TeamDEY

9/1/12 9:21:33PM

This is such B.S. He was never going to give out a cent.

submissionartist1

9/1/12 9:25:54PM

IMO this is a B.S. try to save my image statement. Not worth anymore of my time

Shawn91111

9/1/12 9:28:33PM

Posted by Cooler

Shawn I love how you're always on top of the Jon Jones doing d-bag things.

I now make sure that I only read Jones threads from you

Only news worthy thing in the last month

pmoney

9/1/12 9:31:15PM

I'm sure if he would have announced those intentions after declining the Sonnen fight there wouldn't have been a backlash. If Dana White would have came out and said, "UFC 151 is cancelled, we'll refund the fans. And oh yeah JON JONES stepped up and paid our fighters because we wouldn't and he knows how hard it is monetarily when you are coming up." Then he would look a lot better than he did.

He should've just taken the fight though, then he wouldn't be in this mess and he'd be making money too.

postman

9/1/12 9:37:20PM

If the kid would just shut his mouth he would be fine yeah ppl would be butt hurt he didnt take the fight but that goes away when 152 is done. Malki Kawa is the worst manager.

dreius

9/1/12 9:55:40PM

I want to make sure I got this right. Chael makes fun of Jones for ducking him and Jones goes to papa Dana looking for help.

Everyone else makes fun of him and he plays the "Well I was going to be nice to you until you were mean to me game"

No doubt the guy can fight, but come on. As a teacher this is like 1st grade material.

ghandikush

9/1/12 10:15:38PM

notice him combusting in to flames as his pr person quit. I always disliked him quite a bit but never knew why, never had a reason.... at least now I have a reason.

tallica62

9/1/12 10:29:23PM

I was going to stop world hunger, but then some guy made fun of me so I didn't

Dberntson

9/1/12 10:34:34PM

Yeah, me too

prophecy033

9/1/12 10:38:09PM

I don't like these floating comments that are put out there to give off the impression that you would have done this if that did/didnt happen. I'm not trying to load up on Jones but give me a break. If you do pay, sweet, I like that but don't put that out there that you WOULD have but didn't just to try and look like a great guy

warglory

9/1/12 10:52:11PM

Posted by prophecy033

I don't like these floating comments that are put out there to give off the impression that you would have done this if that did/didnt happen. I'm not trying to load up on Jones but give me a break. If you do pay, sweet, I like that but don't put that out there that you WOULD have but didn't just to try and look like a great guy

Seriously, if you are going to reveal the proposal, than just do it. It makes him look far worse for making the statement.

Chael_Sonnen

9/1/12 11:17:15PM

Translation:

JJ was going to take all the 151 fighters to some dive bar in New Mexico and pay them off in Goebels beer while offering to drive each fighter home

Get a new PR guy bud

State_Champ

9/2/12 12:46:18AM

At least Jones had the thought. Some people wouldn't even make it that far.It would have been a really nice gesture, so I'm pleased that he thought of it.

Wish he would have followed through for his own sake and the sake of the other fighters.

Did the UFC not give the fighters enough compensation?

prozacnation1978

9/2/12 1:14:07AM

This is called damage control

The more I hear crap out of Jones mouth the more I think everything Evans said about this kid was true

RearNakedJoke

9/2/12 1:21:30AM

He really needs to just stop talking....

NaturalBornKiller92

9/2/12 2:12:33AM

This article does not bother me much. While I do believe Jones holds a considerable amount of blame for the cancelation of UFC 151, this is not news to me. We most likely will never know his true intentions of actually paying for the fighters or not (he said she said). One thing I will say is there seems to he a myriad of fans who are just looking for another reason to jump all over Jones back without even considering whether he actually did wrong on the topic at hand. I'll leave it at that...

bjj1605

9/2/12 3:40:18AM

At this point you can't blame anyone for continuing to talk about this story.....

This article does not bother me much. While I do believe Jones holds a considerable amount of blame for the cancelation of UFC 151, this is not news to me. We most likely will never know his true intentions of actually paying for the fighters or not (he said she said). One thing I will say is there seems to he a myriad of fans who are just looking for another reason to jump all over Jones back without even considering whether he actually did wrong on the topic at hand. I'll leave it at that...

People are gonna jump all over him at the smallest things, just like Lyoto, Shogun, Anderson, GSP the smallest comments or picking opponents etc ....

He's not dealing with it well...........

Sports reporting is sensationalist and he has a shrunken pr iq. When it rains btw it pours, just ask Anderson after the Maia, Cote, and Leitas fights.....

Bythar

9/2/12 7:12:56AM

Posted by Shawn91111

I call bullshit, he never was going to do it imo. Even if it's true that he was going to do it until the Twitter talk, that's just childish. Jones has a lot of growing up to do.

Absolutely. 'I was gonna do this, but now you've all ruined it'. Come on Jon, let's be honest here.

MALICE

9/2/12 9:10:25AM

Offering to pay the UFC 151's fighter salaries is an admittance of guilt. It's the classic, "I didn't beak it, but I guess I'll pay for it." routine. If you are innocent in a situation, you would not break down so easily and offer restitution. Someone was feeling guilty.

Either Jones' and his entire management team are just that foolish, or they are following the old saying "There is no such thing as bad publicity." Jones' worst enemy is his twitter account, yet he continues to abuse it. He can't get through a single interview without insulting someone; sometimes it is ok to use the "No Comment" response.

My opinion of Jones is very low right now, but it always has been. IT was not difficult to see through his nice guy routine. Tito had haters and fans, but he still had a sense of humbleness. Jones has no such sense.